WHO Says Congo Ebola Outbreak On Track to Be Deadliest in History

The World Health Organization held a press conference Wednesday to tell us something they probably should have mentioned three months ago. The Ebola outbreak tearing through eastern Congo is “on track to eclipse” the 2014-2016 West African nightmare that killed over 11,000 people. That’s the word from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, standing at a podium in Geneva, delivering the kind of headline that makes you want to check your passport.

Funny how this works. Genetic sequencing now shows the outbreak started in February. It wasn’t officially declared until May 15. Three months. The same organization that wants you to trust every word it says sat on an Ebola outbreak for three months while the virus doubled every 20 days. Tedros himself admitted it: “The outbreak had a big head start, still way ahead of us, and we’re playing catch-up.” You don’t say.

M. Jacobson – Gonzalez – ITU Pictures from Geneva, Switzerland (CC BY 2.0) via Wikimedia Commons

Over 2,000 people are already dead. More than 4,300 infected. And the virus responsible isn’t even one the experts have a vaccine for. It’s the rare Bundibugyo ebolavirus, which has no approved vaccines and no approved treatments. Two vaccine candidates are being tested in humans for the first time. First time. After all the billions poured into global health infrastructure after the last catastrophe, the best they can do is “we’re working on it.”

Ask yourself who benefits from a system where Geneva holds the press conferences and Congo buries the bodies. The WHO’s own people say the moderate scenario has this thing peaking in six months. The worst case? Nine to twelve months. Tom Fletcher, the UN’s emergency relief coordinator, called it the fastest-growing Ebola epidemic in history. Every 20 days, the case count doubles. And the response is hampered by the same things that always hamper the response in places like this: no infrastructure, no trust in government, health workers going on strike because nobody’s paying them. But sure, let’s have another press conference in Switzerland.

Hervé Kashama / Pexels

The CDC says limited health infrastructure, ongoing conflict, and shortages of basic protective equipment are all making things worse. Healthcare workers are getting infected treating patients. Contact tracing is nearly impossible in a war zone. And misinformation is spreading in communities where people have every reason to be suspicious of outsiders showing up in hazmat suits after decades of being ignored by every government within a hundred miles.

Now here’s where it gets personal for you. The U.S. has already slapped travel restrictions on anyone who’s been in Congo within 21 days of their flight, including American citizens. So the same government that told you border restrictions were xenophobic during COVID is now telling U.S. citizens they can’t fly home. Not a peep of debate about it. Just a quiet little rule, announced in the back pages, after the virus already had a three-month running start.

Matti Blume (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons

The establishment playbook never changes. Ignore the problem while it’s small and far away. Hold a dramatic press conference when it’s too big to hide. Ask for more money and more authority. Then act surprised when the little guy, whether he’s in Goma or Gary, ends up paying the price.

Tedros says they’re “playing catch-up.” The dead in Congo are the ones who got caught.